Power devices generally include semiconductor devices or integrated circuits that are used as switches or rectifiers in power electronics, e.g., a switch-mode power supply, etc. Power devices may typically operate in a “commutation mode” in which they are either in a conducting stage (e.g., switched-on) or non-conducting stage (e.g., switched-off). During the conducting stage, thermo-mechanical stress may cause metallization degradation/destruction in the active area of a power device, which may lead to failure over time, e.g., shorts, etc. More specifically, high power transient events, like inductive clamping, may generate high transient local temperatures and high temperature gradients, which may cause metal/thermo migration (thermal driven migration of the metals) in chip components (e.g., metal lines, etc.). Indeed, metal/thermo migration may exert non-uniform stresses during each high power cycle until the inter-metal dielectric cracks and/or the power device fails.
One solution for reducing thermo-migration induced stress in power devices is to reduce the peak temperature during the high power pulse events, which is generally achieved by increasing the size of the power device's active area. However, increasing the size of the power device may be undesirable for applications requiring relatively small and/or compact semiconductor packaging. Accordingly, alternative techniques for reducing thermo-migration induced stress in power devices are desired.